{"title":"Influence of topology on rheological properties of polymer ring melts.","authors":"Ranajay Datta, Peter Virnau","doi":"10.1063/5.0250414","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigate with numerical simulations the influence of topology and stiffness on macroscopic rheological properties of polymer melts consisting of unknotted, knotted, or concatenated rings. While melts of flexible, knotted oligomer rings tend to be significantly more viscous than their unknotted counterparts, differences vanish in a low shear rate scenario with increasing degree of polymerization. Melts of catenanes consisting of two rings on the other hand are consistently more viscous than their unconcatenated counterparts. These topology-based differences in rheological properties can be exploited to segregate mixtures of otherwise chemically similar polymers, e.g., in microfluidic devices, which is demonstrated by exposing a blend of flexible knotted and unknotted oligomer rings to channel flow.</p>","PeriodicalId":15313,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Chemical Physics","volume":"162 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Chemical Physics","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0250414","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We investigate with numerical simulations the influence of topology and stiffness on macroscopic rheological properties of polymer melts consisting of unknotted, knotted, or concatenated rings. While melts of flexible, knotted oligomer rings tend to be significantly more viscous than their unknotted counterparts, differences vanish in a low shear rate scenario with increasing degree of polymerization. Melts of catenanes consisting of two rings on the other hand are consistently more viscous than their unconcatenated counterparts. These topology-based differences in rheological properties can be exploited to segregate mixtures of otherwise chemically similar polymers, e.g., in microfluidic devices, which is demonstrated by exposing a blend of flexible knotted and unknotted oligomer rings to channel flow.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Chemical Physics publishes quantitative and rigorous science of long-lasting value in methods and applications of chemical physics. The Journal also publishes brief Communications of significant new findings, Perspectives on the latest advances in the field, and Special Topic issues. The Journal focuses on innovative research in experimental and theoretical areas of chemical physics, including spectroscopy, dynamics, kinetics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics. In addition, topical areas such as polymers, soft matter, materials, surfaces/interfaces, and systems of biological relevance are of increasing importance.
Topical coverage includes:
Theoretical Methods and Algorithms
Advanced Experimental Techniques
Atoms, Molecules, and Clusters
Liquids, Glasses, and Crystals
Surfaces, Interfaces, and Materials
Polymers and Soft Matter
Biological Molecules and Networks.